Hope (You Damn Hypocrite)
by Fragments of Time
Summary: Some time after Naomi has woken after the Twisted Rosalia surgery, Maria comes to confront her about not having gotten it treated.


Naomi had been up for a couple of hours by now. She had been paid visits by everyone she knew there, no matter how only tangentially she had known most of them before.

There was one person who still had yet to come though. It was odd… no one had even mentioned her. Well. It wouldn't surprise her, she supposed, if Maria was pissed at her for not seeking treatment for the virus on her own. Hm… She never would have pegged Maria for the type to give someone the cold shoulder, though – not with her temper.

Maybe she was busy somewhere. Naomi felt quite sorry for her if she had a two hour rescue, however…

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone charging into her room. Good thing she hadn't been trying to sleep…

"Naomi!" Maria grinned, coming over and resisting the impulse to give her a hug. She really wanted to throw her arms around her, so relieved to see her awake, but in the end, they didn't really know each other all that well and she didn't want to freak her out. "You're awake… thank god." She sat down in the chair next to Naomi's bed.

So she hadn't heard until now…? It sounded as if that were the case. Hm, the job of an EMT really must be tough… Still, she waited a while, figuring Maria would keep talking when she so chose.

"I wanted to stay until you woke up, but…" She gave a sheepish laugh, averting her eyes. "By the time we got done with your surgery, I was exhausted. Chief pretty much made me go sleep. But Tomoe promised she'd stay with you till you woke up, so…"

Oh… that was surprisingly sweet. Who knew Maria had that kind of side to her? Not Naomi, that was for sure. Well… she couldn't say she would have thought it out of the question either, though, actually. "She did."

Maria hesitated before she spoke again, averting her eyes. "You- You almost died, you know." Her hands balled into fists as she recalled too clearly how afraid she had been. "We had to stop your heart to get it out, but we couldn't even use a heart-lung machine." When she looked at Naomi, it was with an anger quite obviously borne from fear. "All because you were a damn idiot who didn't get it treated!" she yelled. "You _knew_ you were infected! Why the hell didn't you come to one of us?!" Her hands trembled with rage and residual fear.

Naomi could feel a headache coming on… and she really did not appreciate being yelled at. "How was I supposed to know there was any point?" she asked, tone short. She may not have been inclined to admit that feeling under normal circumstances, but it seemed Tomoe had already gathered that much, so it wouldn't surprise her if Maria had heard that as well. "I was given six months to live. It'd been seven. What would the point be in treatment when I could have very well have died the next day?"

"Because- because…" She faltered for a moment before regaining her fervor. "Because maybe you would've died the next day, but maybe you would've lived for months longer! And maybe he would've found a cure!" She was furious. Honestly, she legitimately had half a mind to slap Naomi, and it was all she could do to hold herself back. Words just couldn't express what she was feeling.

"And maybe I would've died a week later, slowly and painfully, instead of it just getting over with!" she shot back.

"So you decided to just give up?! You GODDAMN _HYPOCRITE_!" Her voice was steadily rising, and still did not drop when she continued. "Who was it that didn't let me give up when things looked hopeless?! Who pulled through and saved the damn world because she wouldn't give up?! How- How **_dare you give up on yourself!_** " She roughly wiped tears away with the side of her hand.

"The rest of the world could be saved! How was I supposed to know that I could be?!"

"You didn't – that's why you don't give up you, you… you absolute **_moron_**!" She was crying now, too emotional to hold it back and too upset about this to be embarrassed yet. "You know what?! For all we knew, the cure could've not worked! Or people who were cured could've died anyway – any of us could die tomorrow! We don't know! That's why- why we have to _keep_ _ **believing**_! If we just give up like that, what… What's the point of living?!"

"And what's the likelihood of any of us dying tomorrow? Slim. What was the likelihood of me dying of my genetic disease? High!"

"I don't care! You can't live like that; you can't give up on yourself like that!"

Maria did have a point, but Naomi was unlikely to acknowledge such when it was being yelled at her. Besides, she had a point too, and Maria certainly wasn't about to acknowledge that. "Are you trying to convince me you've never seen anything as pointless? You've never given up on something that you _knew_ was hopeless?"

"But this WASN'T hopeless! It almost was because of your goddamn stubbornness, but it wasn't! **_We cured you!_** "

"I had no way of knowing it was even possible!"

"But you shouldn't have **_given up!_** What about Alyssa?! What about- anyone other than yourself?! Even if it WAS only a week, don't you think we would want that?!"

"And what if that week was spent in misery?! For all I knew, you might not have even been able to treat it thanks to the genetic illness anyway!"

"You're not listening to me! God…god damn it!" She considered bolting from the room, but a sob escaped her and proved it was too late to pretend there was nothing under her anger. Instead, she put her head in her hands, attempting to protect her vulnerability. "You goddamn idiot!"

She had been about to retort that Maria wasn't listening to her, either, but… not right now. It felt strange to be put in a position of feeling she ought to comfort Maria, who had just been yelling at her and was still calling her an idiot. Even if Naomi knew it was because she had been afraid… Finally, though, she reached out and put a hand on Maria's shoulder. "Look, I'm fine now."

"I know! But- but I was… so scared you were gonna die…!" Now that the anger had faded, she was starting to feel embarrassed for this. It was one thing to yell – anger, she was comfortable with showing. It was a completely different thing to break down _sobbing_. Humiliating.

Naomi sighed before leaning forward and putting her arms around Maria. She didn't think she was in the wrong, so she wouldn't apologize. But neither would she just sit and watch her cry. "But I didn't."

"Only 'cause you were here, and we were able to save you…!" She hugged Naomi, comforted by the feeling. Naomi was okay now… She was okay.

"…And I'm glad you did."

Maria hesitated, uncertain whether she ought to trust those words. They didn't, in her mind, exactly fit what she had said before. But on the other hand, considering that Naomi had been honest up until now – save for insisting her _coughing up blood_ was _nothing_ , although she realized now that Naomi may have actually seen it that way – she felt she could trust her. "Just… promise me you won't give up again," she said quietly, starting to calm. She hadn't realized until now that that was another thing that had been causing her fear…

Naomi didn't answer at first, instead running various scenarios through her mind. "I'll try," is what she eventually settled on.

It was honestly such a relief to know that Naomi was being honest, even if an answer of certain agreement would have been her preference. "If… If you start to… Just, come talk to me or something! Or someone…"

It seemed to her like Maria didn't quite understand the former situation or what she had been trying to say about it. Her heart was in the right place, though, she supposed… "Alright."

 _Trust_. It was rare for someone to win over genuine trust from her so quickly… and yet, Naomi had succeeded. Maria stayed put for a little bit longer while she finally stopped crying, then pulled away, avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment. "…Thank you," she mumbled, wiping at her cheeks. She didn't feel she ought to apologize either, but that was okay. As long as they could make up and Naomi was going to be okay, she didn't mind agreeing to disagree this time. "Umm, so… anyway, how are you feeling?"

It shouldn't be a surprise that Maria wasn't going to apologize either, she supposed. The woman needed to work on her temper… but it was hard to really fault Maria for being worried about her. "…Still a bit tired. But otherwise, I'm fine."

That was really a relief to hear, and finally, Maria smiled. "I'm… really glad," she admitted, although that much was probably quite obvious. "I should probably let you get some rest, I guess…" She paused, but when Naomi didn't disagree, she continued. "But I'll come back later. …I mean, if you don't mind…" Considering that she had yelled at her and whatnot… she kind of wanted to make sure Naomi wasn't mad or anything.

But Naomi could take being yelled at. It was an annoyance, but nothing more. "I don't mind." Just so long as Maria didn't make a habit out of yelling at her, of course.

"Okay!" She grinned as she stood up. "I'll see you later!"

When Naomi responded with a small smile of her own, Maria's face flushed a little. _Damn… Naomi's beautiful._ It wasn't the first time that thought had occurred to her. After a moment of hesitation, she realized she was staring and should probably actually leave. So she walked away, but not without one last glance over her shoulder at Naomi.

Naomi raised an eyebrow, questioning, but Maria simply laughed and closed the door behind her.


End file.
